Early on DICE had said PC was the lead platform for Battlefield 3, but it looks like it actually changed to console mid-production according to an interview with DICE General Manager, Karl Magnus Troedsson. The reason for the change was made to make sure all platforms were completed for release.

The DICE boss shared the news in the latest issue of PSM3, where he revealed that despite Battlefield 3 looking very much like a shooter designed for advanced PC hardware, the latter stages of Battlefield 3's construction lead on PS3 and Xbox 360 in order to meet release on time.

"We said originally that the PC was the lead SKU of the game, but in mid-production we switched to console as lead platform to make sure we could get all the versions done for release," Troedsson confirmed.

"Our ambition at DICE is to use the power of each individual platform to get the most out of the game," he added.

DICE rolled out the new Battlefield 3 R7 server patch a few minutes ago. This patch is only for server owners. Players do not need to do anything. This update re-enables the queue system for servers in Battlelog, which is represented in ( ) next to server player count. The changelog also has a fix for the rubber banding issue many have experienced.

Dr. Pepper is running a promotion with EA to give out exclusive downloadable content for Battlefield 3 such as dog tags and solider camo. Also available is a Playstation Home avatar. Codes for the DLC can be found under caps of certain Dr. Pepper bottles. You can also send away for free codes as stated in the rules. A similar promotion was held for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 content.

If you haven't picked up Battlefield 3 yet you might want to swing by EA Origin where they are giving out a special limited edition BF3 poster to anyone who buys the game today. Only 4,000 posters are available and the deal lasts today only. This is 1 in a series of 4 they will be giving out.

Today’s poster, which depicts an RPG-carrying soldier, turns any living room, bedroom, or study into an instant action zone. Check out a preview of the 26x16” piece below:

Want one of your very own? Be one of the first 4,000 to order Battlefield 3 on Origin and claim this fine piece of wall-covering for your very own. And remember, this poster is the first in a series of four limited edition posters so be sure to visit Origin in the next few weeks to complete your collection.

DICE Karl Magnus Troedsson posted on the Battlefield Blog today talking about some of the Battlefield 3 issues they are working on fixing. Some of the key problems are quick match functionality, squad issues, Origin authentication, cheaters and server maintenance.

If you are a server owner make sure you have updated to the latest R6 release. In my experience it seems to be much more stable than before.

Hi all! This is Karl Magnus Troedsson with an update on the Battlefield 3 launch. It has been an amazing first week for all of us at DICE. It’s incredibly exciting to ship Battlefield 3 globally, and to hear the feedback from our fans.

This has been our largest launch to date! Thank you all for turning out in record numbers at midnight launches across the globe. It’s great to know you’re all as excited to play Battlefield 3 as we are. Even so, the overwhelming response has been as humbling as it is appreciated. Battlefield 3 is the fastest selling game in EA’s history, but is not without its ups and downs.

You make the game come aliveEveryone at DICE has put their heart and soul into Battlefield 3. We take an incredible amount of pride in what we’ve built. Many of us were Battlefield players even before we became developers on Battlefield 3. So we take great pride in the positive feedback and revel in the Battlefield moments captured by the community. Here is just one of the thousands of awesome fan videos that are popping up everywhere, showing us what Battlefield is all about:Mid-air helicopter pick-up

Key issues and how we are fixing themDespite the fact that millions of people are online playing Battlefield 3, some of you are experiencing issues. The DICE team, as well as the many EA groups that support this historic launch, have all been working around the clock. We’ve deployed a number of server-side updates in our first week that have solved a number of the primary connectivity challenges, and have accelerated our rollout of the number of Hardcore servers. Below is an update on five key issues for us and how we are addressing them. Read the rest...

EA announced today Battlefield 3 sold 5 million units worldwide in the first week of release. This comes after EA CEO John Riccitiello stated in an investor conference call that 10 million copies of Battlefield 3 had been shipped to stores with many receiving reorders. EA also says players have racked up 73 million savior kills, 48 million revives and destroyed 67 million vehicles this past weekend.

Battlefield 3 Sells 5 Million Units in First Week

The Fastest-Selling Game in EA History Propelled by Great Reception from Critics and Player Word-of-Mouth

Electronic Arts Inc. today announced that based on internal estimates, Battlefield 3™ has sold through five million units in the first week globally, making it the fastest-selling game in EA’s history. The outstanding retail performance is driven by critic’s reviews averaging above 85 on console and above 90 on PC.* Word-of-mouth from gamers is also driving sales – Battlefield 3 now has more than 2.5 Million “likes” on Facebook®. Following the tradition of all games in this storied franchise; Battlefield 3 includes a superior multi-player experience. Consumers have logged-on in unprecedented numbers to team up and join the battle. Server stability was solid in the first weekend, delivering EA’s highest-ever usage rates. While some players experienced intermittent disruption of online services due to high volume, internal estimates show that servers and service uptime stabilized to roughly 98.9% throughout the weekend, ensuring that players were connected and enjoying the game. With a commitment to support the game as a software service, EA is listening to consumer feedback and is making daily updates and improvements to ensure an optimal online experience for all.

“It is extremely gratifying to deliver an entertainment experience that delights our fans, and to have the opportunity to introduce new people to the franchise. Already, we are seeing unprecedented play times and online activity which is very rewarding. This launch solidifies Battlefield as a leading entertainment brand.”

Battlefield 3 continues to set new EA records this weekend**:

2.5 Million Facebook “likes” with hundreds of thousands of fans actively engaged

“From Tokyo to Los Angeles, Sydney to London, millions of fans have been playing all weekend long -- we are overwhelmed by the global response to Battlefield 3,” said Patrick Soderlund, Executive Vice President of the EA Games Label. “It is extremely gratifying to deliver an entertainment experience that delights our fans, and to have the opportunity to introduce new people to the franchise. Already, we are seeing unprecedented play times and online activity which is very rewarding. This launch solidifies Battlefield as a leading entertainment brand.”

* According to Metacritic as of October 31, 2011.
** As of October 30, 2011.

Many Battlefield fans had hoped to see Battlefield 3 on Steam, but as we saw, that never happened. EA said it was due to Steam's "restrictive terms of service" with regards to patches and downloadable content.

Today we have some evidence that Battlefield 3 might actually be making its way to Steam. A user on the Steam forums discovered that PBSetup.exe (for Punkbuster) has been updated to install files into a Steam directory for Battlefield 3.

EA sent out 6 new Battlefield 3: Back to Karkand screenshots today showing the classic map, Strike at Karkand. Also announced is Back to Karkand will be coming out in December!

It’s time to go Back to Karkand this December with the first expansion pack to DICE’s award winning Battlefield 3.

Utilizing the power of Frostbite 2, the Back to Karkand Expansion Pack, remasters four of the greatest Battlefield maps in the franchise; Strike at Karkand, Wake Island, Gulf of Oman and Sharqi Peninsula with enhanced levels of destruction. In addition, this expansion pack includes five new dog tags, five new achievements/trophies, three new vehicles (DPV, BTR-90, F-35B STOVL jet fighter), 10 iconic Battlefield weapons and a new persistence system where players complete assignments to earn their rewards. For more information please visit www.battlefield.com.

During EA's earnings conference call today, EA Games Label President, Frank Gibeau stated there would be a "robust set of expansion packs" planned over the next 6 months for Battlefield 3. One of those is of course Back to Karkand, but it seems we can expect more. Gibeau also commented about on their network service stability and are confident they can handle the additional load from the Europe launch this weekend. Some other Battlefield 3 mentions are listed from the transcript below.

Ryan Gee - BofA Merrill Lynch, Research DivisionThis is Ryan Gee calling for Justin. Getting onto Battlefield real quick, I was wondering if you guys can talk about your downloadable content or sort of add-on content plans for that over the next maybe 3 to 6 months? And then we're coming up to November when there's going to be competing shooter titles out there. How do you guys plan to maintain engagement for Battlefield during that time? And then maybe if you wanted to talk about Medal of Honor and how usage patterns either at retail or online changed in November last year?

Frank D. GibeauSure, this is Frank. In terms of engagement, the Battlefield community has the highest engagement rates inside of Electronic Arts in terms of the online play. We do that through a variety of means. First and foremost, we have a fairly aggressive downloadable content plan out in front of us. We've already announced the Strike at Karkand Map Pack that is going to becoming available and we'll be constantly updating on the servers and infrastructure with new features and enhancements. Our plans over the next 6 months is to have a very robust set of expansion packs past on Strike at Karkand and that we think the community's going to be very, very excited about. (cont.)

Brian J. Pitz - UBS Investment Bank, Research DivisionCongratulations on the successful launch of Battlefield 3 , it looks great coming out of the box. Just a couple of questions on that. We're hearing there's some issues with recent server outages that prevented gamers from accessing the multiplayer game. Did these servers go down due to a larger-than-expected demand or was it some other issue? And second, a quick follow-up, can you share any data points for how the game is selling on Xbox versus PC?

Frank D. GibeauSure, this is Frank. In terms of the network services, we have had unprecedented and historic peaks in terms of the activity that we're getting from the Battlefield community and players, and it's caused parts of our networks to experience some outages. We were very rapid in our response there. We were able to get those back up. We feel like we've really gotten a handle on it now, and the service as it scales to the release in Europe this weekend, should be solid. In terms of that mix on PC and Xbox sell-through, we've only been out a couple of days, and we really haven't seen enough information to give you a solid trend answer for the mix there. I can tell you that the PC SKU is performing extremely well.

John S. RiccitielloBattlefield 3 was launched on Tuesday and has opened very strong. We shipped 10 million units to retail and we are already receiving reorders. The data is still early but sell-through is strong.

Peter R. MooreI'll finish with Battlefield 3. As you know, we launched this title earlier this week, and the results have been tremendous, thanks to the superb quality of the title produced by our DICE Studio in Stockholm, and the world-class marketing executed by our teams globally. Our marketing made adept use of YouTube where 13 million people have viewed our trailers and on Facebook where we have 2.1 million fans. Battlefield 3 PR was everywhere, and on launch date, in North America alone, more than 8,400 stores opened early to sell the game. We couldn't be happier with the launch of Battlefield 3.

So to sum it all up, we're nailing it in Digital and nailing it in Packaged Goods.

Arvind Bhatia - Sterne Agee & Leach Inc., Research DivisionGreat. One question on Battlefield 3 as well. Can you just remind us the mix of PC versus consoles for the last one? And are you expecting a similar mix for this one as well?

Frank D. GibeauThis is Frank. The mix going forward on those titles, we haven't really announced, and I don't think we're in a position to really talk to those yet. I mean, we're only 2 days in terms of sell-through and we're looking at the reorders. But the PC, as I said before overall, we expect would've grown as an overall business just because of how spectacular the software is on the PC and what it looks like.

Battlefield 3 Strategy eGuideBattlefield 3: Prima Official Game Guide is a fully-featured web access strategy guide with interactive maps, streaming video, search capability and a detailed walkthrough. Each map includes the ultimate sniping positions, the best group tactical positions and a zoom in/out feature. Strategize with your teammates by watching streaming video that shows which of the best roles to use in each tactical environment. Dominate the game with key strategies straight from the pros working directly with the development team.
Key Features:

Complete breakdown for every weapon, vehicle, and piece of equipment.

Streaming video of each team environment.

Full search capability and zoom in/out function.

24-hour access to all online content.

Detailed interactive maps for both single and multiplayer modes.

Expert in-depth walkthroughs for every campaign mission

Battlefield 3 Online Class Objective Tracer (O.C.O.T.)The Battlefield 3 Online Class Objective Tracker by Prima Games is a feature-rich interface allowing users to complete objectives in the most efficient way possible. It gives users the pre-requisites needed to unlock every ribbon, medal, dog tag, achievement, weapon and vehicle in the game. Users can filter by class, rank, weapon and vehicle, search by keyword and track what they have and have not completed.

Gameasutra reports that EA CEO John Riccitiello announced that Battlefield 3 has shipped more than 10 million units since launch with many stores receiving reorders. This is a huge difference when compared to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales, which are at 11 million copies to date. Thanks slicedlime.

In a Gamasutra-attended conference call, EA CEO John Riccitiello announced that the company's major first person shooter Battlefield 3 has shipped more than 10 million units since its launch earlier this week.

He also added that EA has already begun receiving reorders for the game to help replenish stock.

The DICE-developed Battlefield 3 launched October 25 across the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.

For comparison, EA's previous Battlefield title, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, released in March 2011 and has sold 11 million copies to date.

Earlier this week, analysts predicted that Activision's Modern Warfare 3 will sell twice as much as this latest Battlefield title.

GameSpy has a really sweet article today for us where they build two different types of PC rigs. This time they focus on Battlefield 3. Check it....

Budget and the Beast is our monthly column that shows you the bits and pieces to build two different types of gaming PCs; an affordable budget box that will still run today's games well, and a high end beast designed to slaughter any polygon that dares cross its path. Today we're bringing you a special version of this guide, showing you two PC builds that are designed to run Battlefield 3. The budget box will run with most settings at high, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, while the Beast can handle Ultra, with high levels of anti-aliasing. If you're looking to build a new gaming PC just for BF3, then walk this way.

EA has officially announced that the PS3 version of Battlefield 3 will NOT include a digital copy of BF 1943 after all. It was announced early this year that the PS3 version would include the PSN title as an incentive for players of that console. This is what DICE had to say through twitter:

In lieu of 1943 being available on disk for PS3 customers, EA has made all BF3 expansions available early to PS3 customers

EA and Dice had announced a 1 week exclusivity period with Sony for all future Battlefield 3 DLC. The timed-exclusive content will replace the previous offer. What do you think of this? are PS3 owners getting a better deal getting maps earlier?

The embargo has been lifted and the Battlefield 3 reviews are pouring in. The Metacritic rating so far it's averaging 92. Then again, we all knew the game would rock our socks off. Here are some of the reviews:

Joystiq: But the feel of Battlefield 3's multiplayer combat is unmatched. Forget the beta -- there have been subtle changes and fixes to damage models and netcode. Combat in Battlefield 3 is now closer to what it was in Bad Company 2, with an emphasis on tactical decision making and smart shooting over twitch reflexes (though there is some of that). The reintroduction of going prone to the series allows for more fluid strategic movement, as running across an open space and diving to your belly is a totally viable option during some firefights. It's another of those Battlefield Moments. You can't get it until you play it but, once you do, every game will have at least one.

Kotaku:...Battlefield 3 is still awe-inspiring, distracting, immersive. The game's use of sound, its massive battlefields, the disintegrating cover, the vehicles, the push to get players to act in concert, all combine with a new level of graphical detail and smartly sharpened leveling up and unlock system that delivers the deepest play experience I've ever had in an online shooter. This is the new bar for online first-person shooters, when it works. Launch day jitters hit my PC matches with some dropped play and an occasional bungee run back and forth on a couple of maps.